Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, buried at lower left, goes tumbling into the end zone for a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley warms up before an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

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An Oakland Raiders fans watches warmups before the start of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

An Oakland Raiders fans holds a Chucky doll while watching the team warm up before the start of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. Fans brought the dolls for the return of Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Oakland Raiders tight end Jared Cook runs with the ball past Los Angeles Rams linebacker Samson Ebukam, left, and defensive back Lamarcus Joyner (20) during the first half of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay walks onto the field before the start of an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is embraced after walking onto the field before the start of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Oakland Raiders cheerleaders perform during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke on the sidelines before the start of an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch carries the ball into the end zone for a touchdown as Los Angeles Rams linebacker Cory Littleton (58) tries to stop him during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch, right, celebrates with quarterback Derek Carr, left, after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/John Hefti)

OAKLAND — The enthusiasm from the SoCal chapter of Raider Nation, at least, remains unbridled.

As usual, the airports were full of folks in Raiders gear Monday morning, headed northward for that night’s opener against the Rams. (The one individual wearing old-school Rams blue and gold gear amid a sea of black and silver on This Space’s flight out of Ontario looked awfully lonely, but he survived. He knew what he was in for. I suspect the flight attendant who tried to talk over the “RAI-derrrs” chant from the back of the plane toward the end of the flight wasn’t as savvy.)

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But the loyalty of SoCal Raiders fans can be expected. They’ve begun their 23rd season of making those game-day commutes to Oakland or following their team from afar. And they know that in two or three years, their team will represent Las Vegas and their games will be a closer commute.

But what about the fans of the team’s ancestral home? How are they handling another imminent departure?

Oakland Raiders fans had their team ripped away once, repossessed it in 1995 and now are going to lose it again. But they’re asked to remain loyal, fill seats and buy merchandise for at least two and possibly three more seasons until the stadium in Las Vegas is complete.

Outwardly, anyway, the enthusiasm remains the same. But it’s worth wondering how many of those who showed up Monday night are actually from here.

Rest assured, the Raiders’ lame duck seasons in Oakland still can’t be compared to the final years of the Chargers’ 56-year stay in San Diego. The atmosphere is still noisy and vibrant in the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, though there is that huge tarp covering all of the seating sections on the top level of Mt. Davis as a testament to good intentions gone awry.

The people of San Diego, responding to the Chargers’ constant threats and bluster as the stadium chase ramped up, voted with their wallets — and at the polls as well, in November of 2016 — and made their collective opinion of ownership clear. Well before definitively turning down Dean Spanos’ ballot initiative, which would have used a hotel tax to shoehorn a new football stadium next to Petco Park downtown, San Diegans just stopped going to Chargers games.

It is worth noting, too, that as soon as the Raiders’ lame duck status became official, people in San Diego started talking up the idea of the Raiders using Mission Valley as a temporary home. See: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

That talk resumed a week ago when the Oakland City Council authorized an antitrust suit against the team over the Vegas move, which would seek monetary compensation for damages. The Raiders, who are on a year-to-year lease in the Coliseum, let it be known that if the lawsuit were filed, the team would almost certainly play elsewhere in 2019.

That proposed suit was announced six days ago but as of game time Monday hadn’t yet been filed. Given that (a) Alameda County, co-owner of the Coliseum complex, has no interest in being involved and (b) the amount the city is seeking, as much as $500 million, is nearly seven times as much as the debt remaining on the stadium renovation bond, this seems to be nothing more than one gigantic municipal hissy fit.

Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole recently suggested that there might be another objective: Oakland’s aim might be to force the team and the league to leave the “Raiders” name, logo and identity in the East Bay, ala Cleveland. Given that the Raiders trademark was used in Los Angeles for more than a decade, that also might be a reach.

Still, one city’s unhappiness is always another city’s opportunity. Since the new crib in Las Vegas won’t be ready by next September … yeah, you know where we’re going. Caravans down I-5 and I-15 are easier than eight weekends a year in the Southwest terminals at LAX, Burbank, John Wayne and Ontario. (But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. San Diego’s own stadium is a political kickball these days, with the duel between competing sides to develop the Mission Valley property headed for this November’s ballot.)

The atmosphere at game time Monday was festive, and most of the stadium — and particularly the Black Hole behind the east end zone — was packed, with only some empty seats in the upper deck.

As the season continues, let’s see if those empty pockets of seats become larger. If so, you’ll know that football fans of the East Bay are indeed voting with their wallets.

Jim Alexander is an Inland Empire native who started with his hometown newspaper, The Press-Enterprise, longer ago than he cares to admit. He's been a sports columnist off and on since 1992, and a full-time columnist since 2010. Yes, he's opinionated, but no, that's not the only club in his bag. He's covered every major league and major sports beat in Southern California over the years, so not much surprises him any more. (And he and Justin Turner have this in common: Both attended Cal State Fullerton. Jim has no plans to replicate Turner's beard.)